French President Emmanuel Macron would not rule out authorities suspending access to social networking sites if deemed necessary to prevent further unrest in the country.

It would be necessary to consider their use by young rioters and the possible blocking of access to them, Mr Macron said to mayors of 241 disaster-hit cities in Paris on Tuesday, broadcaster BFMTV reported.

“If things get out of hand, they might have to (…) be regulated [οι ιστότοποι κοινωνικής δικτύωσης] or be excluded. This should definitely not be done in the heat of the moment,” and “I’m glad we didn’t have to do it,” Mr. Macron added.

Already on Friday, the French head of state had blamed social networking sites for at least part of the blame for escalating violence in mass protests against police brutality. The riots, he explained, were organized through these websites. Yesterday he returned, stating that the management of social networking sites should be studied calmly. “Because when they become a tool to organize violent rallies or assassination attempts, it’s a real problem.”

At the same time, in northern France, controls at the border with Belgium have been intensified to stop the importation of fireworks, the newspaper Le Parisien reported last night in its digital edition, citing the prefecture.

Local authorities banned the sale of fireworks and their transport by citizens, as well as the sale of fuel in portable containers, until mid-July.

France has been hit by widespread incidents in the last week, after the death by a policeman’s bullet of 17-year-old Nael during a traffic control in Nanterre, a suburb of Paris. The 38-year-old policeman who shot has been taken into custody and is being investigated for manslaughter.